Spring actuated generator for rocket launchers



June 19, 1951 L. A. SKINNER ETAL 2,557,151

SPRING ACTUATED GENERATOR FOR ROCKET LAUNCHERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24; 1944 I awe/rm k\\ a LESL.IE.A.-5KINNER,

I? JULIUS A FD| 5E,

June 19, 1951 L. A. SKINNER ET AL I 2,557,151

SPRING ACTUATED GENERATOR FOR ROCKET LAUNCHERS .Filed Aug. 24, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 llw QPWMM LEEILIEA-5KINNER7 :Iuuus A Fu LSE7 Patented June 19, 1951 SPRING ACTUATED GENERATOR FOR ROCKET 'LAUNCHERS Leslie: A. Skinner, Berkeley, Ca1if.,.and JuliusA'.

Folse, Miami, Fla. assignors to the United States of- America. as represented bythe Sec ApplicatiomAugust 24, I944; Serial-No. 551,052

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883; as amended. April 30, 1928; 370 G. 757) zolaims,

The invention described herein may be'manufactured" and usedby or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to usof anyroyalty thereon.

This invention relates to a rocket projector, more particularly to a'rocket-projector for use by. airborne. troops.

It. is an objectof this-invention: to provide an electrically fired rocket projector, the sourceof current being supplied by a magneto.

A particular object of thisinvention is to provide a rocket projectorv for airborne troops having. a bipod mountto. facilitate handling of. such projector by one individual- The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the rocket projector partly broken away to show-the muzzle deflector in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a right end elevationalview of the muzzle deflector shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of Fig. 4 showing the magneto utilized for the electric current source.

Fig. 3A is afragmentary longitudinal sectional View of the shoulder stock showing themagneto operating arm in the discharged position.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane 4-4 of Fig. 3-.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the plane 5+5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken-along the planetional fragmentary view of the rear end of the rocket projector.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane 8-8 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 9 is a top elevational view of Fig. 8.

There is. shown in Fig. 1 in assembled relation a rocket projector comprising essentially aglong cylindrical metal sheet tube l terminating at: the forward end in a gas blast deflector 2. A pistol grip 3 and a shoulder stock 4 are secured to the under side-of tube I as shown in Fig. 1 preferably by welding. A bipod 5 to be later described is secured to tube 1 slightly to the rear of deflector 2 as by a collar 6.

The shoulder stock 4 is a substantially'triangular shaped member having. an arcuate rear surface. 6 shaped to comfortably fit the; shoulder of die.- fi e The. nt ger Qish ulder. tork. 4 is.

hollow and houses a. spring operatedmagneto 1;. Magneto 'l-f comprises an armature. 8i and aperjmanent magnet field 9. The armature 8. is rotatably mounted within field 9 by. a horizontal shaft Iii. The shaft IL!) is supported oneach of; the sides of. shoulder stock A by two; inwardly projecting bosses H. A collector I12. is-provided on the left of armature 8. on. shaft Iii. as shown, in Fig. 4. Collector i2 is. connected, by, two brushes. l3 and 54 which. arein turn connectedto; terminals i5 and 56 respectively. Armature Bis. arranged to be rotated by aspring biased, segment. shaped arm ll.

The arm ii is skeletonized as-shown in- Fig. 3: and is rotatably mounted on. a horizontalshaft 18. The shaft I8 is supported by. twoinwardly projecting bosses l9, one each of which is pro;- videdon. opposite sides of shoulder; stools l near; the. bottom thereof.

Gear teeth 24. are. provided. on the under; sideof the arcuate, end of segment shaped arm I}- which engages a spur gear ZE-securedtoarmature; shaft It. Teeth. 2 3 stop somewhat. short-20f E1163 left side of arm H as shown in Figs; 3 and 3A so that} such teeth will become disengaged fromi spur. gear 25 when arm H; is rotatedgtozthepow sition shown in Fig. 3A. Thus armature 8gwil1- befree to spin rapidly. after receiving the initials. impetus from arm [1. A shock absorbing; spring 26 is mounted within a suitablehole 2] in arm I]; as shown in Fig. 3A. Spring. 26,, is. provided. to. cushion the blow ofarm I-fl against. the; forward-1 end; of shoulder stock 4; when, such arm. is. re:

leasedto rotate armature 8 01" magneto; l: as be. presently described; l he arm. is! is. rotatedl about shaft I8 against. the. bias of. a spring 250;. to the operating position by alever l9er andsuclL arm is held in this position. by a latch. member 28 as'shown in Fig. 9.

The lever [S is fixedly secured to. shaft. I8; i-'n the, right. side: of? shoulder stock t as shown in Fig.4. 'IEhe lowerv end of shaft 29 is supported'by a. boss: illisecured as Joy welding to-si'de of shoul der stock 4. The upper end of shaft 29 is supported by a suitable boss 3I. Latch 28 is fixedly mounted on a vertical shaft 29. Latch 28 is provided with a notch 32 which engages an integral lug 33 provided on the side of arm I1. A slope surface 34 is provided on lug 33 to cooperate with a correspondingly sloped surface 35 on latch 28 so that latch 28 will be cammed into engagement with lug 33 to hold arm I1 in a cocked position shown in Fig. 3.

A horizontal lever 36 preferably integrally formed with shaft 29 projects across the top of shoulder stock 4 as shown in Fig. 8. Lever 36 is connected to a trigger 31 by a wire 36. Trigger 31 is pivotally mounted within a suitable recess in pistol grip 3 as by a pin 39. An integral vertical lever 48 is provided on trigger 38 to which the wire 38 is connected. A spring 4i is suitably connected between lever 36 and shoulder stock 4 to bias lever 36 to the left as shown in Fig. 3 thus biasing latch 28 in engagement with lug 33 on arm I1 and maintaining trigger 31 in the operating position until manually depressed.

On the left side of tube I and at the rear thereof as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, there is provided a small substantially rectangular housing 42. Such housing is preferably secured to tube I as by welding. Within housing 42 two oppositely disposed spaced lugs 43 are secured to the periphery of tube I as by welding. Contact fingers 44 are respectively secured to a pair of arms 49 each of which is pivotally mounted on each lug 43 by a pin 45. Each finger 44 is a rod-like member, the upper end of which is bent inwardly as shown in Fig. '1 to contact, respectively an axial contact disc 46 and a contact ring 41. The contact disc 46 and contact ring 41 are mounted in a plug 14 of suitable electrically insulating material secured in the extreme rear end of a rocket projectile 48. Contact disc 46 and contact ring 41 are connected by leads H and 12 respectively to an electrically fired squib 13 mounted in the interior of rocket projectile 48 adjacent the propellant material 15.

A bushing 58 of suitable electrical insulating material surrounds each pin 45 to insulate such fingers from the rocket projector. An integral arm I is provided on the inside ends of each pin 45. A pair of over center springs 52 are connected respectively between each arm 5| and 'housing 42 to hold fingers 44 either upward in contact with contact disc 46 and contact ring 41 or in a downward position shown in dotted outline in Fig. '1 where fingers 44 are out of engagement with contact disc 46 and contact ring 41. Connection is made between each arm 44 and terminals I5 and I6 by suitable lead wires 53 and 54 which are contained within a conduit 16 suitably secured to the outside of tube I and housing 42 as by welding.

Muzzle deflector 2 may be integrally formed with tube I or may be of separate construction and secured to the forward end of tube I by welding. The extreme forward end of deflector 2 is of substantially semi-spherical configuration as shown at 55. A rearwardly projecting nozzle 56 is secured by welding immediately in back of the spherically shaped portion 55. Such nozzle is funnel-shaped and extends semi-annularly around muzzle deflector 2. A semi-annular opening 51 in muzzle deflector 2 communicates with nozzle 56 and the interior of deflector 2. An upwardly flared deflector flange 58 is provided directly in back of nozzle 56 to deflect the gases escaping through nozzle 56 upwardly. Such collar extends ha1f-way around the periphery of 4 tube I and is secured to such tube preferably by welding. The resultant force of the escaping gas is thus downward which tends to stabilize the projector tube I.

Bipod 5 comprises a collar 6 surrounding tube I and a pair of telescoping legs 59 each of which is pivotally secured to a depending lug 68 on collar 6 as by a pin 6|. The legs 59 may be locked at any desired height by an eccentric locking latch 11 secured to each leg by a collar 18. Lug 68 is rotatably secured to collar 6 by a stem 62. C01- lar 6 is preferably constructed of two halves and such portions are clamped about tube I by a thumb screw 63. Thus bipod 5 may be moved to any position desired on tube I by merely sliding collar 6 along to the position desired and then tightening thumb screw 63.

The rocket projectile 48 is positioned within tube I by a detent 64 (Fig. 3). Detent 64 is secured to a lever 65 by a pair of nuts 66. Lever 65 is pivotally mounted on top of tube I within a welded bifurcated lug 61 by a pin 68. A spring 69 which rests within a suitable recess in the under side of lever 65 in a suitable recess on top of tube I is provided to bias detent 64 downwardly into engagement with an annular groove 16 provided on the rocket projectile 48. Thus when a rocket projectile is inserted into the rear end of tube I, detent 64 will snap into groove 18 to position such projectile within tube I.

With the rocket projectile 48 positioned in tube I, discharge of such projectile is then effected electrically, Lever I5 is manually pulled rearwardly thereby loading spring 28. The arm I1 is then retained in the cooked position by latch 28. Upon release of trigger 31, latch 28 is pulled away from lug 33 and arm I1 is rapidly rotated forwardly by the bias of spring 20. Gear teeth 24 on arm I1 then rapidly spins spur gear 25 and hence armature 8. Rotation of armature 8 generates a small electrical voltage which is transmitted by lead wires 52 and 53 to contact fingers 44 and thence to contact point 46 and contact ring 41 thereby effecting discharge of squib 13 within the rocket projectile 48. The lgniter composition 15 is thereby ignited effecting discharge of rocket projectile 48.

From the foregoing description it is readily apparent that a socket projector is hereby provided particularly adapted for use by airborne troops, being of simple, rugged construction. By utilizing a self-generating, electrical igniting apparatus of the type herein described there need be no concern relative to replacement of batteries or other parts to effect discharge of electrically fired rocket projectiles.

We claim:

1, A rocket projector, comprising a rocket tube,

a housing mounted on said tube in alignment with a trigger mechanism spaced from said housing and carried b said tube a magneto armature having slip rings connected thereto journaled in a spring having one end attached to said arm' and the other end attached to said housing to resist one direction of pivotal movement of said arm, latching means on said housing and said arm, said trigger mechanism connected to said latching means, said latching means releasably retaining said arm in cocked position thereby stressing said spring, a second spring mounted in said arm arranged to cushion said arm when said trigger mechanism releases said latching means to cause said armature to rotate.

2. In a rocket projector comprising a tube having a funnel shaped muzzle deflector and adapted to contain and discharge rockets having self contained charges, a housing on said tube, a trigger mechanism on said tube aligned with said housing, means for igniting the said charges comprising an alternating current generator having solid permanent magnet field poles, an armature rotatably mounted between said field poles on a shaf a pinion on said shaft, slip rings fixed to the said shaft and connected to the said armature, and means to rotate the said armature comprising an arcuate arm pivotally mounted in the said housing, gear teeth on the said arcuate arm arranged to engage with said pinion, a first helical spring between said arcuate arm and said housing and connected thereto to resist one direction of pivotal movement of said arm and to urge the arm in the opposite direction, latching means on said housing and said arm, said trigger mechanism connected to said latching means, a second helical spring mounted in said arm at a Ill REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 372,958 Bradley et a1. Nov. 8, 1887 407,327 Buell July 23, 1889 1,155,061 Heinemann Sept. 28, 1915 1,280,579 Stone et a1 Oct. 1, 1918 1,670,419 Mayer May 22, 1928 2,156,605 Prettyman May 2, 1939 2,389,514 Kennedy Nov. 20, 1945 OTHER REFERENCES Weapons of World War II," Barnes, pages 48-49. 

